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Corvus (crow)Location: Southern Hemisphere, very low on the southern horizon in the Northern HemisphereCoordinates: Right Ascension: 12h Declination: -20º Source: Greek mythology, Arab, sailor's lore  The story behind the name: The constellation Corvus is named for the crow, a bird associated with Apollo. The star pattern looks nothing like a bird. It consists of four bright stars that form a quadrilateral and better fits the Arab designation of a tent, or the sailor's lore that identifies it as a sail. This constellation was not created because it looked like a crow, but because it was near the constellation Hydra. While Hydra is chiefly associated with a very different story, the snake shape also reminded sky watchers of a fable about Apollo, written down by Ovid, which involved a crow, a watersnake and a cup. With one element of the story already in place (the snake), the two constellations, Corvus (crow) and Crater (cup) were created to represent the other two story elements. In ancient times, when stories were passed on by oral tradition, it was useful to have the main points of a fable hanging in the sky for all to see.
Introduction to Constellations | Constellation Sources | Constellations Index Objects observed by Chandra in Corvus: |
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Revised: August 30, 2006
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